Thanks!
I remembered seeing these pictures when I read joy's question, but I didn't know how to search for them again since I read very little Japanese. IIRC, these are from a Japanese FS magazine and they also did a ice coverage illustrations for Yuna and Mao's current programs, Gershwin and Bells. They explained the elements that they are doing in each different colored/numbered segments and I found it quite interesting and informative.

For both free programs for last and current season, Yuna seems to be covering more ice (hence skating longer distance) which means she's faster. And Mao is not a slow skater at all!

Since I don't want this to be another Yuna & Mao comparing thread, it would be very nice if someone could tell me if this magazine did the same analysis for other skaters and older programs too, and if I could buy/read them in the US. I'm most curious about Kostner's ice coverage since she actually used to look faster than Yuna. I know, what makes this sentense sad is "used to". I remember her SP at 2007 World was so refreshing and energetic.

Thanks!
I remembered seeing these pictures when I read joy's question, but I didn't know how to search for them again since I read very little Japanese. IIRC, these are from a Japanese FS magazine and they also did a ice coverage illustrations for Yuna and Mao's current programs, Gershwin and Bells. They explained the elements that they are doing in each different colored/numbered segments and I found it quite interesting and informative.

For both free programs for last and current season, Yuna seems to be covering more ice (hence skating longer distance) which means she's faster. And Mao is not a slow skater at all!

Since I don't want this to be another Yuna & Mao comparing thread, it would be very nice if someone could tell me if this magazine did the same analysis for other skaters and older programs too, and if I could buy/read them in the US. I'm most curious about Kostner's ice coverage since she actually used to look faster than Yuna. I know, what makes this sentense sad is "used to". I remember her SP at 2007 World was so refreshing and energetic.

Sorry it was off topic..

ITA! Thank you for pointing that out. Mao is definitely not a slow skater; she's just not as fast as Yuna, but then few skaters can catch up to Yuna's speed. I can only think of Carolina who may equal Yuna in terms of speed.

You could be right, but I think a good coach can make all the difference if a skater has some natural talent, which Kwak clearly does. I mean, she is a year younger than Mirai, and last season Mirai's international scores were much lower than what Kwak has gotten at her last two competitions, even this season both Mirai's grand prix LP scores were lower than what Kwak got for her LP at 4CC and the Olympics. Plus sometimes being so good at a young age backfires, as we've seen with Caroline and a lot of other girls. Most skaters have to rework their jumps after they have a growthspurt, but where Kwak is 16 she probably won't get much taller (hopefully she'll fill out a bit though). She can jump, she can spin, and she's flexible - the things she needs to work on - speed, edging, footwork, stroking, etc - are things that can be developed with a good coach. I don't know if she will ever be fantastic, but I think with the right packaging she could be quite good .

You're probably right. I've seen so many people already calling Kwak "mini-Yuna" and I just don't think that's appropriate yet, since Yuna's never been off-podium in intl competitions (novice, jr & sr).

I'd love to see Kwak clean up some of her issues and become more consistent. I think she has the potential, but I don't want another disappointment of Naomi Nari Nam, who dazzled me in 99, only to disappear and so on, hence my low expectations. ;-)

According to Dong-a newspaper in Korea last year, Kwak was 2nd in the National cpmpetition in Korea,. 12 year-old, young skater Hae-Jin Kim won the national competition in Korea. She can Jump all kinds of Triple except 3A. Third place was another 12 year old young skater So Yeon Park.

According to Dong-a newspaper in Korea last year, Kwak was 2nd in the National cpmpetition in Korea,. 12 year-old, young skater Hae-Jin Kim won the national competition in Korea. She can Jump all kinds of Triple except 3A. Third place was another 12 year old young skater So Yeon Park.

Yeah she was 2nd at Korean Nationals but won the Olympic qualifiers. Her international scores at the past two competitions have been much higher than what she scored previously though, even at Korean Nationals. She was 22nd at Jr Worlds last year and finished 11th at both her JGP events this year. It seems like recently she's had a huge breakthrough because her LP score at 4CC was a season's best by over 34 points or something. I think she's gaining consistency based on her results recently, she must have either not had most of her triples or couldn't consistently rotate them this fall even based on her scores from the JGP. I think with the right coach and packaging she could be pretty good.

You're probably right. I've seen so many people already calling Kwak "mini-Yuna" and I just don't think that's appropriate yet, since Yuna's never been off-podium in intl competitions (novice, jr & sr).

She looks like Yuna did when she was younger, I actually think that's why most people call her Mini-Yuna. Her skating is pretty good but her style is different from Yuna, she is really flexible and more of a spinner while Yuna is more of a jumper. People call Christina Gao Mini-Yuna too, but that's again mostly because she looks like Yuna did when she was younger and they have the same coach. I still have high hopes for Christina, though she did not do as well at Junior Worlds (8th place) as expected.

Yuna just won the Olympics by about 25 points, very few people can be even close to Yuna's level. That doesn't mean Kwak isn't good though, she's much better than Na-Young Kim the girl that used to skate for Korea internationally along with Yuna.

ITA! Thank you for pointing that out. Mao is definitely not a slow skater; she's just not as fast as Yuna, but then few skaters can catch up to Yuna's speed. I can only think of Carolina who may equal Yuna in terms of speed.

I don't get why speed is considered such a positive. I don't think that extreme speed adds much to the beauty of the performance (even when seen live), unless the skater is using the speed to punctuate some dramatic quality of the music or to express some emotion. As long as a skater isn't extremely slow, I don't seem an advantage to being very fast vs. average speed. Actually, Yu Na looks like a speed skater to me at times (Carolina too). I prefer skaters who're more graceful rather than just fast.

Why does CoP reward speed so much? Is it that much harder to execute elements when you're going very fast? Or did someone just decide that it looks "better"? I just feel like there's a disproportionate amount of attention being paid to speed. To me, it's a very minor factor, unless a skater is so slow that it distracts from everything else.

I don't get why speed is considered such a positive. I don't think that extreme speed adds much to the beauty of the performance (even when seen live), unless the skater is using the speed to punctuate some dramatic quality of the music or to express some emotion. As long as a skater isn't extremely slow, I don't seem an advantage to being very fast vs. average speed. Actually, Yu Na looks like a speed skater to me at times (Carolina too). I prefer skaters who're more graceful rather than just fast.

Why does CoP reward speed so much? Is it that much harder to execute elements when you're going very fast? Or did someone just decide that it looks "better"? I just feel like there's a disproportionate amount of attention being paid to speed. To me, it's a very minor factor, unless a skater is so slow that it distracts from everything else.

I think it's because GOE is now factored into the score, whereas it wasn't during the 6.0 era. I think one executes jumps better with more speed going into them. I actually think it's harder to execute jumps with slower speed as in Caroline Zhang's case. Personally, I am also fine with the speed as long as it is not too slow. Irina was faster than Kwan but she wasn't necessarily better. I think Yuna is rare that she is good in other aspects in addition to her speed. As in Costner's case, speed alone without consistency can only take you so far.

I think it's because GOE is now factored into the score, whereas it wasn't during the 6.0 era. I think one executes jumps better with more speed going into them. I actually think it's harder to execute jumps with slower speed as in Caroline Zhang's case. Personally, I am also fine with the speed as long as it is not too slow. Irina was faster than Kwan but she wasn't necessarily better. I think Yuna is rare that she is good in other aspects in addition to her speed. As in Costner's case, speed alone without consistency can only take you so far.

Thanks. I wish that they'd rework the GOE - sometimes I think that skaters can gain too big of an advantage due to GOE points when their skating isn't that much better than the competition. It would be great if there were a way to reward grace and overall performance quality rather than just singling out specific elements of skating (such as edges, speed, etc...). Sometimes the whole is greater than its parts. I don't think that aspect is adequately covered by the interpretation score. But then the scoring of the "overall impact" brings up the issue of subjectivity, which opens up the scoring to cheating judges...

I don't get why speed is considered such a positive.
Why does CoP reward speed so much? Is it that much harder to execute elements when you're going very fast? Or did someone just decide that it looks "better"? I just feel like there's a disproportionate amount of attention being paid to speed. To me, it's a very minor factor, unless a skater is so slow that it distracts from everything else.

The emphasis on speed is nothing new, it has been one of the main judging criteria since at least the late 80's (I remember Uncle Dick talking about it at Calgary as if this were a new judging consideration).
I can think of a couple reasons for this and the more knowledgeable can surely think of more.

Yes, a lot of things (including jump approaches, transitions into spins, footwork and in-betweens) really are harder when you're skating really fast. The only lady who can compete with Kim in terms of speed is Kostner who often can't control her speed.
The world is full of skaters who can do some jumps and spins and look nice doing so. Judges need something to narrow down the field. Figures were a great way to narrow down a field of 28 to 6 or so who had a chance. So was the increased importance of triples for ladies after triples. Being fast is just one more way to weed out the also rans from the podium contenders.